25February

Remembrance Day

Memorial Day for the Victims of Communism in Hungary

Hungary

00:00 - 23:59

The Memorial Day for the Victims of Communism is commemorated in Hungary on February 25th .

On February 25, 1947, Béla Kovács, the General Secretary of the Smallholders Party was arrested by Soviet forces. Kovács was deported to the Soviet Union, where he was held in both prison and labor camps until 1956. His arrest was viewed as a prelude to the communist government’s forthcoming repressions.

In 2000 the Hungarian Parliament passed a decree that declared February 25th a national holiday, in which all victims of communism must be commemorated.

 

bela
Statue of Béla Kovács in downtown Budapest. Source: Wikipedia Commons.